Everything will change

Thursday March 26th, 2020

Leopard in shutdown

I have hardly digested my celebration champaign – to the news that the Rivercafe delivery date is confirmed – and everything is already different.

The South African government has decreed a shutdown until April 16th. Companies will have to close down, just like here in Europe. This also affects the Leopard shipyard Robertson & Caine. Yesterday I learned that all work will be stopped for 3 weeks. And that means for us:

The Rivercafe will not be finished as planned.

It is written in the stars – or in the RNA of the virus to be more precice – when it will be finished. There should be only a few working days left to finish the Rivercafe, but unfortunately this does not change much.

Many of you who have been following us for a long time know how important this journey is to us. We are extremely frustrated and what is especially annoying is that we can do absolutely nothing.

South Africa has about 700 cases as of today and no casualties. That’s not a lot, but in view of the well-organized health system and special structures such as townships, I think that rigorous measures are certainly wiser than a laisser-faire approach. I hope that everything will work quickly and that few people will fall ill. So much for the chatter that warm temperatures will eliminate the virus “miraculously”. The South African summer clearly sees things differently.

What it means for us, I can’t say. If it continues in Cape Town on April 16, we might still be able to keep to our schedule. At least the departure date from South Africa towards the Caribbean. If not, then not. And so a new checklist pops up. On it are 7 booked flights, a safari, a diving course and numerous booked hotels, some rental cars and plenty of delivery dates – all of which have to be rescheduled or cancelled in case of emergency.

Back in positive-thinking mode I then realize that we will leave in any case. If things go bad it will be later. The blue water life will have us back soon. / Holger Binz